Jail term for Winehouse's husband

Singer Amy Winehouse's husband has been jailed for 27 months for attacking a pub landlord and perverting the course of justice.

Blake Fielder-Civil, 26, of Camden, north London, admitted assaulting James King, 36, at the Macbeths pub in Hoxton, east London, in June 2006.

He also admitted at Snaresbrook Crown Court trying to make Mr King withdraw his complaint using a £200,000 bribe.

Three other men were also sentenced for perverting the course of justice.

Michael Brown, 40, from Carshalton, south London also admitted assault for his part in the attack, that left Mr King needing plates fitted into his face for a broken cheekbone. He was jailed for 33 months.

Anthony Kelly, 25, from Chalk Farm, north London, was given a custodial sentence of 20 months after admitting perverting the course of justice.

You (Fielder-Civil) behaved in a gratuitous, cowardly and disgraceful way

James Kennedy, 19, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, who also admitted the charge, was given a 40-week sentence at a young offenders' institute, suspended for 12 months.

Fielder-Civil has already spent nine months in jail on remand.

Judge David Radford said Fielder-Civil was high on alcohol and cocaine when he and Brown attacked Mr King outside the pub.

He said Fielder-Civil joined in the attack "out of a mistaken sense of loyalty to your friend".

"The fact remains that in joining in that attack by kicking out at Mr King after he had already been both punched and kicked by Mr Brown you behaved in a gratuitous, cowardly and disgraceful way," Judge Radford said.

Brown, Fielder-Civil's friend, was sentenced to 33 months in jail

Jeremy Dein QC, for Fielder-Civil, said his client had been thrown in to a "nightmare scenario" after the attack.

"[It's] not just for him but for his wife and his family," he said.

Mr Dein said the attack was the result of a "drugs-ridden lack of judgment rather than callousness".

"For almost half his life he has been in the clutches of drugs," he said.

He said Fielder-Civil had a history of self-harm and suicide attempts but was determined to rebuild his life with his wife.

'Calamity awaits'

He said: "It's their ambition to divorce themselves from hard drugs, not to separate themselves from each other.

"He knows that if he fails, an appointment with calamity awaits, not just for him but for his wife as well."

Following the attack, Mr King was visited by Kelly, who, he claimed, tried to make him strike a deal to leave the country, making him unavailable to give evidence about the assault.

Kelly (left) and Kennedy acted as middle men in the deal

The plan was exposed when Kennedy and Kelly tried to sell the story and CCTV images of the assault to The Daily Mirror newspaper.

They increased the stakes when the newspaper showed little interest, saying there was "a bigger story" and that there was a bribe to ensure that Fielder-Civil and Brown would not go to jail.

A journalist from the newspaper had asked whether Amy Winehouse was involved or not and was told by Kelly that she was paying for the bribe.

But the court heard that there was no evidence to suggest the singer was part of the plot and she faced no charges.

The court had heard that in November 2007, Mr King made a taped withdrawal statement.

But he told police Kelly had intimidated him telling him he had "no option" but to withdraw his evidence so that Fielder-Civil and Brown would be found not guilty of assault.

Mr King was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice at a trial in June.

Fielder-Civil's wife, Amy Winehouse was not at Snaresbrook Crown Court, where the sentencing took place.

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